Much has been made of the future of both Marathon and Bungie, following the struggles of the live-service extraction shooter. It seems fans need not worry about either, after Marathon and Bungie received a very encouraging update going forward.
Despite strong reviews, Bungie’s Marathon has never quite taken off since its initial release earlier this year. Player counts for the extraction shooter have continued to taper off in the months since, to the point where even Destiny 2‘s player count is nearly 10 times bigger than Marathon‘s. Even though the numbers don’t make for great reading, Bungie has continued to release new Marathon updates to do as much as it can to increase the player count.
Neither Marathon nor Bungie is Shutting Down Any Time Soon
Forbes journalist Paul Tassi claimed on X that neither Marathon nor Bungie is shutting down, despite plenty of community speculation about the futures of both. When another X user asked about his sources, Tassi doubled down, stating, “it’s a fact.” This is great news for those who want to see a bright future for the extraction shooter, despite Marathon‘s well-publicized player count problem.
Much of the speculation has been focused on the fact that Bungie has yet to discuss Marathon Season 3 in any great detail. The studio’s silence has led many to think the game could be in jeopardy, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Interestingly, though, Tassi only says the game isn’t shutting down, but that doesn’t say much about the level of active support Marathon will receive in the future. On Steam, the game has officially started to crawl into three-digit player counts on a daily basis, and it’s unclear whether this is enough for Bungie to continue support well into the future. This is all speculation, though, and Tassi’s update is good news for both Bungie and its latest extraction shooter.
People have speculated about a potential Marathon shutdown since not long after its release. Games like Concord and Highguard, both of which were shut down in the weeks following their initial launches, have only reinforced the idea that games that aren’t instantly successful (especially live-service ones) are in danger. In truth, this isn’t always the case, and a big-budget game like Marathon from a developer like Bungie could have a longer leash to find success with future updates.
As the studio behind Halo and Destiny, it would be a huge shame to see Bungie go anywhere. Over the years, it has typically had some of the best gunplay on the market, and its games, even at their worst, have offered something unique that players can’t get anywhere else. Even with Marathon‘s struggles, hopefully Bungie gets another chance to prove itself yet again.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Animated Blood, Language, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
